Base for stools and other furniture



May 1, 1923.

H. C. WILLSON BASE FOR STOOLS AND OTHER FURNITURE Filed March 27, 1922 .Tnlfrafm? Patented May 1, 1923.

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HOWARD o. wiL son-or woncnsrna, nassaonnsnrrsi BASE FOR STOOLS AND OTHER FURNITURE.

Applicationfiled March 27, 1922. Serial No. 547,145.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HowARo-C, VirprsoN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and standard for carrying a seat, table or the like; to provide a central member at the bottom of such a nature as to support the standard rigidly and receive the legs and hold them; to provide a construction of legsin which they can be made of pieces of wire arranged so that when weight is placed on the standard supported by them, they will grip it more firmly than before; and to provide an improved adjusting device for the seat or other top that the standard is designed to support.

Reference is tobe-had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side view of an adjusting stool constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan with the top part removed;

Fig. 8 is a central sectional View through the lower part of the standard; and

Fig. 4 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 3 showing a modification.-

I have shown the invention in Figs. 1,2 and 3 as comprising a standard 10 consisting of a piece of pipe and arranged of course vertically. This has rigidly fixed to it at the bottom a holding element 11 in the form of a casting or forging of a general cylindrical shape. This has a vertical central passage for the bottom of the pipe or stand ard 10 which project all the way through it and is firmly secured to it in any desired way, as by a set screw, or by swedging the edge of the element 11 on the pipe or otherwise.

This element 11 is provided with a plurality of integral radiating arms 12, three of these being shown in the drawings. Each one of these arms is provided with an inclined central perforation 13 which extends preferably all the way through to the pipe.

Fitting into the bottom of the pipe or standard 10 are the upwardly eirtending ends 15 of three legs formed of wire. These v three ends arearranged in .verticalposition and they are driven into the pipe and of such size that when driven inthey will bev held in place, but the pipe can be swedged overat the bottom to form projections 16 for engaging the surfaces-and holding them firmly in position. They project out radially on an inclination to forlnthe lower parts 17 of't he three legs; They. are bent backwardly at their ends uniformly to form feet 18 and then bent forward to provide upper arms at an angle to the floor not as acute as the angle ofthe lower arms. These upper arms extend freely into the perforations l3land they are made .long'enough so that their upper angularedgesare adapted to closely engage the standard 10 under norin'al conditions. I

However, it will be'obvious that, these legs being formed of wire, the application of weight to the standard will tend to spread the legs slightly. This will tend to drive the upper arms 18 inwardly to engage thestandard. This forces these ends against the standard so as to immediately resistany further spreading action and increase the rigidity of the whole supporting base. An

other advantage lies in the fact that no fastening means has to be used at the top and yet no disadvantage arises from that fact.

The standard ,10 can itself directly support a seat, table or the like on the top, but I prefer an adjustable arrangement and for that purpose I have shown a rod 20 fitting in the top of the whole standard andsupporting a spider 21 on which is a seat 22 or a table, plate or other .device to besupported. This rod is provided with notches 23. Through the standard 10, at a point below that to' which the bottom of the rod will extend when in its lowermost position, the end of a spring 241is passed diagram-j matically and headed over at 25. This spring extends up the standard and" along the side thereof and at the top is provided with an integral end 26 constituting an adjusting pin.v The natural resiliency of this wire holds the adjusting. pin yieldingly in position and it can be dislodged very readily because I-have provided agooseneck 27 at i the top. It will be seen that the whole construction is simple and inexpensive but at the same time rigid and durable.

In the form shown in Fig. 4 the upper end 30 of each wire leg is vertical and extends up into the bottom of the standard. They turn down at the ends, instead of up, and bend under. Their inner ends 31 are held in a ring 32 of metal below, and concentric with, the standard. The bottom of the standard and top of the ring are brazed or soldered together and to the legs at 3%.

Although i have illustrated and described only two forms of the invention 1 am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I .do not wish to be limited to all the details of construction herein shown and described, but what I do claim is 1. In an article of furniture, the combination of a hollow vertical standard, a casting secured to the bottom thereof having a plurality of radiating arms each provided with an inclined passage extending in through the armvto the vertical external surface of the standard, and the same number of legs each consisting of a wire bent near the center and having two separate arms in a vertical plane, one loosely fitting in one of said passages and having a vertical end surface provided with an angular upper end engaging said vertical surface of the standard and 30 the other secured to the bottom of the standard and extending up into it and into the bottom of said casting, whereby when pressure is applied to the standard the angular top of the loose arm will project inwardly 35 and grip the side of the standard.

2. As an article of manufacture, a base for a piece of furniture comprising a hollow vertical standard and a plurality ofwire legs each having one end extending up ver- 40 tically into the bottom of said standard, said ends filling the lower open end of the standard and holding each other therein and extending down therefrom at an inclination to support the standard at a distance from the 45 5001', said legs being doubled over at their outer and lower extremities and their other ends being held against vertical movement;

in testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HOWARD c. WILLSON. 

